Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 14:07:29 -0500 From: "The Malt Hound" <jvaljeannospamamcharter.net> wrote in message news:uVHUd.2095$vd4.250nospam.lga... > Okay, how do you know it is, please? It now sounds so much simpler > to just relax the tension and restore it using a ratchet/breaker > bar. Next, where did you get the metal strip (and what kind of metal > did you use, since that seems to be up for grabs)? From a machine > shop? > I know it is because I have used the tool many times. The advantage of the tool is that it will hold the tensioner in the compressed state while you fit the belt over all the pulleys. You then compress the tensioner slightly and remove the tool and everything should be all set. Yes, you can do it with 2 people or try and do it with two hands, but I find the tensioner difficult enough to compress that I don't like holding it with one hand while fitting the belt on with the other. I used a piece of steel and two bolts, each fitted with the appropriate nuts, that I picked up at a hardware store. -Fred W